A Saints contingent led by HC Dennis Allen and GM Mickey Loomis had dinner with a big group of OSU players last night in Columbus, couple tables over from WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba and the Giants folks.
Saints spent 5 first- or second-round picks on Buckeyes in the last 7 drafts.
— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) March 22, 2023
Here’s something: the New Orleans Saints sent eight coaches, scouts, and front office executives to Columbus for the Ohio State Buckeyes pro day this week, but they made sure to arrive in town early. Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer reports that head coach Dennis Allen and general manager Mickey Loomis “had dinner with a big group” of Ohio State draft prospects for dinner on Tuesday night.
But top slot receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba wasn’t in their party — he was tied up with a prior commitment to the New York Giants (picking at No. 25 in the first round, ahead of the Saints at No. 29), who were reportedly seated a couple of tables away in the same restaurant. Odds are good that the Saints will catch up with Smith-Njigba at another time if they haven’t already.
This isn’t uncommon for the Saints. NewOrleans.Football’s Nick Underhill adds that they like to get groups of players together around pro day workouts in a more casual setting “to see how they interact and put them in more natural settings to see what they’re really like.”
So it doesn’t necessarily mean any of these Buckeyes are going to end up wearing black and gold just because the Saints went through the trouble of traveling to Ohio. But their history of drafting players out of Ohio State speaks for itself. As many as a dozen draft-eligible prospects are working out in front of NFL teams on Wednesday, and it’s very possible one or two of them are in the Saints’ plans for 2023.
